Kyrgyzstan Bars Passengers From Tajikistan After Deadly Border Violence

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th May, 2021 ) :Kyrgyzstan's main international airport said Wednesday that scores of passengers flying from neighbouring Tajikistan had been barred from entering the country weeks after border clashes between the Central Asian nations left dozens dead.

The incident is likely to further sour relations between the impoverished former Soviet republics whose disputed border witnessed its worst fighting in three decades of independence erupt at the end of April.

Kyrgyzstan reported 37 deaths from the clashes that saw border troops open fire on each other and led to the destruction of dozens of homes on both sides.

The dead were mostly civilians, including two children, Kyrgyzstan said.

Tajikistan said 19 of its citizens died in the violence.

A representative of the Manas airport in the capital Bishkek told AFP that the plane operated by Tajik carrier Somon Air had been asked to return back to Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe after landing on Tuesday night because Kyrgyzstan's border service had "temporarily closed the border for citizens of Tajikistan".

Kyrgyzstan's border authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Tajikistan's embassy in Kyrgyzstan confirmed the incident to AFP and said that the two countries were in negotiations.

"Less than ten people - not citizens of Tajikistan, were allowed into Kyrgyzstan," the spokeswoman said of the approximately 200 passengers on the plane.

The spokeswoman claimed that a further 70 citizens of Tajikistan had been unable to fly back from Bishkek to Dushanbe.

Kyrgyz authorities had informed the embassy that this was due to entry and exit restrictions imposed on citizens of Tajikistan, the spokeswoman said.

"But there had been no official notification of this (restriction) from the Kyrgyz authorities," she added.

The two countries that are both members of Russia and China-backed security blocs retained high level contacts throughout the three days of fighting at the border that saw Moscow and neighbouring Uzbekistan offer to mediate.

A ceasefire reached on April 29, the day the conflict erupted, held from May 1 onwards while the presidents of the two countries agreed to meet in the near future following telephone talks.

Despite ongoing negotiations, there has been no clear indication of progress delimiting disputed sections accounting for more than a third of the pair's 971-kilometre (604 mile) border.